daltonparva

Lewis Hamilton to be knighted in new year. About time. Rock on Tommy. "Read all 'bart it" in the Sun. ( It's on 'tinternet but can't work the link).

Have faith. The "iconics" (GNR No1, Hardwick) have appeared, the Spinner belongs with them, Rapido have mastered a single, John from Rails in a recent interview with Jenny Kirk said they have lots in the pipeline including something he hopes to announce soon in the new year; so with absolutely no knowledge or proof whatsoever I am sure we will see one sooner rather than later.

Green is aux 1, f1 on an ordinary decoder. Sound decoders will have a matching coloured pair of wires for the speaker and will use f1 to switch the sound on, the green wire for auxiliaries will be allocated to a different f number.

As you say above, only those 4 wires to make the loco move, and 2 others for the speaker (usually a pair of brown or purple, depends on the decoder). You can do away with all the others unless you want lights, etc.

If you're going to cram it in the barrel I presume you are DC, not DCC. If so why not do away with it altogether? If not, do as you suggest, as long as it is well insulated.

I was responding and paraphrasing from this.

You are basically reiterateing what I said previously. In LMS terms they initially release a "secondary" livery, sales don't meet expectations, 2nd run of "primary" livery delayed/postponed. If they had done the livery most people might expect/prefer then sales might have been better in the first place.

That's the theory. In the examples we've been discussing above, we're still waiting for the "second batch" of Compounds some 8-9 years later, and the 2-4-2 tanks however long they've been out.

I will have to differ with you there. To old rosy-tints here, LMS-ish is circa 39, when you had most of the new standard Stanier locos alongside a wonderful variety of pre-grouping engines, giving great scope for all manner of things to be seen "on shed".

That's what gets me. The period you quote is what I (and I suspect many others that have an interest in things LMS) tend to fondly imagine as representative of the company, not the last few months between the war and BR's formation. Bachmann ignore the large time period that rosy-spectacled people like me grew up seeing models of, and instead seem to concentrate on a very short specific period at the end of the company's existence, therefore probably limiting sales of their models and subsequently probably curtailing future productions. Which do you think would have sold more, the plain black compound they produced, or a red "crimson rambler"?

Doesn't mean Bachmann will do them. Someone there only seems to like plain black for LMS. Still waiting for a red compound, the 2-4-2 tank should have been lined, this 1P should be lined. These were the more usual liveries, and harder for the average Joe to create, anybody can spray everything plain black. Signed Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells.

I didn't know we had a groan button. Can we have it back, and maybe one with a piccy of a pile of pooh, and one with a picture of a semi-clenched fist with movement marks? (For any humourless people, the above wasn't a serious request).

Is that a technical term?

Yes.

I think the next "specials" will be a Midland Spinner - I asked a Rapido gent a few years ago about this after the GNR single appeared, and although statutorily non-committal he wasn't as professionally poker-faced as Messrs Kohler and Lovett; and the Caledonian single, to go with Rails 812, and a possible cause of friction with a former producer of these models? Both available for scanning etc.

Deposit paid. Withdrawn 5 years before my period, but what the Hell. Rule 1 applies.

Steam locos will only have 21-pin decoder sockets ready fitted in a tender, they're too big for the boiler, and you'll see the wiring and 4-pin plug between loco and tender. Tender locos without wiring, and tank locos, will always be 8-pin, unless they are of the new tichy type when they might have 6-pin or next-18.

When the Heljan ones turn up, they tend to be between £100 -£200.

This is a Roco 42615, heavily altered. . This is a Heljan 89031/89041, again altered. (Like the one mentioned previously). Both 60 footers.

The most realistic (to British eyes) 60 footer is the Roco 42615, but it is very expensive ,(£350-£400 ish), second hand ones don't come up very often and make high prices, but it looks good, works well and reliably, and is quiet.

It was prototypical in that some roundhouses had them (Midland), Heljan did the same model with a more familiar bridge deck, the one you've shown can easily be altered by cutting the deck down (it just lifts off), and the controller is very unreliable with replacements unobtainable but when it conks it's pretty easy to convert to a switch or transformer or dcc control, but you lose the indexing. You have to park it by eyeball, like the real thing.

Yes, the relay/electromagnet is the same thing. The electromagnet releases as soon as you let go of the switch. The loñg grey arm should be sprung so that it is trying to get away from the electromagnet and into one of the cog indents as it's natural position.

It's a long time since I took one of these apart, but if I remember correctly there are 3 wires to the mechanism:- a common (-), a positive to the relay, and a positive to the motor. The switch supplies a feed to the motor wire all the time but only supplies a feed to the relay when you operate the switch; a temporary contact on the first position until the switch springs back, a permanent contact on the second position until you release the switch. When you operate the switch the relay moves and pulls back the long grey bar out of 1 of the 4 indents in the toothed cog, and completes the circuit for the motor feed wire. The motor rotates the cog, and the rotating cog is now holding the long grey bar against it's spring to make the motor feed contact until it encounters the next indent, where it falls into the indent and breaks the motor contact. If you make sure the long grey bar is readily trying to spring into an Indent, the relay works when the switch moves, and the motor contacts meet when the grey bar pulls back, all should be well. I've just put a thingy on one of your posts to attract your attention.

I've got a feeling they might do the complete set, plus the Coronation loco, in a fancy wooden box. That would be a dream, the price would probably be a nightmare.